It means what!
by Sculla
Summary: During a mission on Eden Prime, before waking up Javik. Shepard finds an amulet in the ruins. Not thinking about it, he keeps it. Later when Kaidan and Shepard are together, Javik notices that Kaidan is wearing it and tells Shepard something surprising.


_**AN: Again with the Kinkmeme prompt. This time it is: During a mission on Eden Prime, before waking up Javik. Shepard finds an amulet in the ruins. Not thinking about it, he keeps it. Later when Kaidan and Shepard are finally together, Javik notices a necklace on Kaidan. Javik tells Shepard that both of them are married because of the Amulet. Shepard is confused until Javik explains that in his time people gave the Amulet before they marry. In case anyone's curious it's the Amulet of Mara off Skyrim, obviously I took some creative license in how it works and a biotic's reaction to Element Zero.**_

John swore and ducked behind a convenient rocky outcrop in an attempt to doge the incoming fire from the Geth. Peering around the edge of the cover he sighted the nearest Geth Trooper through the scope of his sniper rifle and fired, taking the synthetic's head clean off before he was forced behind cover once more. He waited for a lull in the fire fight before popping out again and removing another three heads consecutively before his rifle overheated. Cursing he dropped back behind the rocks and shook out his stinging hand. John heard a chuckle and he looked up to see the second biotic laughing at his mistake. John barely resisted the urge to poke his tongue at the man; something about Kaidan Alenko just brought out his inner child. John figured it was the Sentinel's serious outlook on everything. However now wasn't the time to clown around; the human colony of Eden Prime was being attacked by hostile forces and they still had to acquire the Prothean Beacon which was the priority of the mission.

Knowing that their time was running out, John summoned the dark energy from within and hurled it around the outcrop into the remaining group of Geth. The Stasis immediately froze the synthetics and they Alliance officers quickly filled them with bullets, allowing them a moment to regain their breaths.

"Figured out why the Geth are here yet?" John asked his companion.

"No, the Geth haven't left the Perseus Veil in over three hundred years." Kaidan answered with a frown.

"Damn, I was hoping you would know." John replied jokingly as he pushed to his feet and moved out from behind cover to stand beside Kaidan.

John saw the Sentinel roll his eyes at the reply and grinned. He would get the man to relax yet; and if he was lucky maybe he'd get a bit more than relaxation, he thought as Kaidan bent over to adjust the armoured plating on a boot and John took the opportunity to admire the man's rear end. Even while wearing the Onyx Armour, dat ass…

John hastily looked in the opposite direction when Kaidan straightened up and turned toward him. "We should continue; we need to get that beacon."

"Yeah." John answered absently; when he'd turned to avoid Kaidan catching him ogling a flash of light reflecting off something had caught his attention. He moved away from Kaidan and toward the spot he'd seen the flash.

"Commander?" Kaidan queried. The biotic looked in the direction they were supposed to go and back to his commander who was determinedly marching off in the opposite direction.

"Hang on." John answered with a wave of his hand. "I saw something…" he trailed off as he knelt down. There half buried in the dirt was a small carved piece of metal. John gently brushed the dirt off it and picked it up revealing several small discs linked with a metal chain.

"Is that a necklace?"

John looked up to see Kaidan peering down over his shoulder at the object in his hand. "Yeah." John answered.

"Looks old." Kaidan murmured as he studied it. "May I?" he asked as he held out a hand requesting the necklace.

Shrugging, John handed the biotic the necklace and watched as Kaidan brushed his gloved fingers of the centre disc revealing more detail.

"The carvings almost look Celtic." Kaidan muttered absently as he studied it.

John watched as Kaidan's thumb brushed over the blue stone in the centre which sent a shudder through the other man. John raised an eyebrow at the reaction and smirked as Kaidan flushed red and hastily handed it back to the commander.

"Its…uh…the stone in the centre is Element Zero." The embarrassed man explained. "Biotics tend to react to its raw form." He added unnecessarily.

"It's not the only thing they react to." John said with a sly smirk. It grew as he saw Kaidan's eyes widen and flush further at the remark. Perhaps he wouldn't have to work too hard to get the second biotic to relax after all.

"I-I…uh…we should get moving. Nihlus is probably waiting for us." Kaidan stuttered before spinning around and walking stiffly in the direction they were supposed to be going in.

John chuckled and looked down at the necklace in his hand. The image of Kaidan's eyes fluttering and his body shuddering as he touched the Element Zero ran through his mind. Maybe he'd keep it; you never knew when something like that would come in handy.

John looked up from staring at the floor when the door to his quarters opened. "Liara, hey." He greeted softly.

"John." The Asari replied as she stepped into the room carrying something in her hands.

John watched silently as she paused and looked around his room with an awed expression. She took in the large fish tank with a raised eyebrow and when she spotted the tiny floating forms at the top she shot him a questioning look which he returned with a shrug. "I never had pets as a kid." He said with a wry look. "I keep forgetting to feed them."

"I see." Liara answered slowly. "I suppose you didn't have toy ships either?" she asked with a gesture to John's collection on the shelves.

"Models, not toys." John stated firmly with a mock frown. "And no, I had dozens of those; spacer kid remember?"

"Of course, my mistake." Liara allowed with a faint smile before she looked down at the object she held in her hands. "Anyway, I brought you something. It took some digging but I managed to recover your tags." She said as she held out the small frame with John's N7 dog tags displayed within.

John smiled as he reached for it. "I thought I'd never seen them again." He murmured absently as he brushed a hand over the glass parting that separated his fingers from the metal. "Thanks."

"They changed hands more than once." Liara stated. "It was Admiral Hackett who gave them to me. He sends his regards by the way." She added.

John looked up at the announcement and gave a faint smile. Trust Hackett to believe in him; the man always did have a soft spot for John. He placed the frame on the table next to the bed then gestured for Liara to sit down.

As they moved over to the seats Liara spoke. "There was something else I managed to obtain alongside your tags." She said as she pulled out a small box and handed it to him.

John frowned and carefully pulled the lid off. When he saw what was inside he let out a surprised laugh. "God, how did you manage to get this?" he asked. Inside the small box was the metal necklace he had found on Eden Prime two years ago.

"I have my ways." Liara responded with a smile.

John pulled out the necklace and stared at the blue stone in the centre of the amulet. Kaidan's eyes fluttering with pleasure when he touched the Element Zero flashed through his mind; almost immediately it was followed by the biotic's angered face following their meeting on Horizon and John winced.

"So tell me, John, how are you doing? I mean really, not just what you tell your squad." Liara asked as she watched the changing expressions crossing the Commander's face.

John made a face at the query. "You never go for the easy questions do you?" he asked with a shake of his head. He sighed and sagged back into the chair. "Between you and me…and EDI…and probably Miranda and the Illusive Man, because I know they have listening devices in here." John began with a roll of his eyes. "I miss my old team."

Liara smiled softly. "You have Garrus and Tali with you." She answered.

"Yeah, I guess." He replied softly as he fingered the amulet in his hand. "But Wrex is on Tuchanka running the show and you're learning everybody's darkest secrets." He joked.

"You miss Kaidan."

John jerked and tightened his grip on the amulet causing the metal to dig into his fingers. Trust Liara to get right to the heart of the matter.

"I saw the photo." She elaborated gently.

John looked up at his desk and grimaced. Damn, he was supposed to have shoved that in a drawer before Liara arrived. "He wasn't too happy to see me." He muttered angrily.

Liara sighed softly and reached forward to take one of John's hands in her own. "Kaidan missed you when you were gone, John. He had lost someone special, whether you acted on your attraction or not, Kaidan loved you." She said quickly before John could interrupt. "Seeing you again, alive and well after all this time would have been a shock."

"Yeah." John sighed. "Seeing me with Cerberus probably didn't help."

Liara pulled a face at the mention of the pro-human organization; even though she was the one who delivered the Commander's body to them. "I know he wrote to you afterward." She stated.

John looked up her from their clasped hands and she gave an unapologetic shrug. "You hacked his email?" he asked before chuckling. "No secret is safe from you."

Liara laughed gently and released his hands. "Not with my network. Anyway, I should get back to my base. But thanks for inviting me up, John." She said as she pushed to her feet.

John followed and led her to the door. "It was good to see you too, Liara. Don't be a stranger."

"I won't." Liara smiled. She opened her mouth to say something more before hesitating.

"What?" John asked.

Liara looked down at the amulet still in John's hand and she reached out to touch the chain briefly. "It's Prothean, the amulet." She explained, biting her lip gently before looking him in the eye. "Kaidan had it, while you were…gone. He gave it to me to give to you if I saw you again."

John swallowed and looked down at the necklace in his hand, feeling his fingers unconsciously tighten around the metal once more. "Oh."

"Take care, John."

John barely acknowledged Liara's farewell, too focused on the newfound knowledge that Kaidan had been safekeeping the amulet during his death. He recalled pulling it out almost every chance he got during their quest to get Saren and running his thumb over the blue stone in full view of the other biotic. It became a little game he played in the attempt to see how far he could push the other man. Moving back over to the sofa John sat down and stared at the necklace before he hesitantly brushed his thumb over the Element Zero. Immediately he felt the effects and shuddered at the feeling that ran through his body; his eyes fluttered and he let out a shaky breath. Damn, he hadn't done that for a long time.

He looked down at the amulet before a faint frown formed on his face as he studied it. The amulet looked slightly different now that he thought about it. He gently ran his thumb across the delicate carvings and discovered that they were slightly worn down. The realisation that Kaidan had run his fingers over the amulet enough times that it wore down hit him like a tonne of bricks. Maybe Liara had a point about Kaidan, John thought with a soft smile.

John woke to the feeling of fingers softly running up and down his side. He opened his eyes and squinted at the soft light from the bubbling fish tank. "Kaidan?" he mumbled as he rolled onto his back and blinked at the man beside him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." The biotic answered apologetically.

"S'okay." John muttered as he draped an arm across the other man's naked chest and nuzzled gently at his neck. "You 'kay?"

"Yeah, just thinking." Kaidan replied absently as he gently ran his fingers across the arm John had lain across his torso and stared through the skylight at the stars moving passed.

"Hurt much?"

John felt more than heard Kaidan's amusement at his joking comment.

"I'm just thinking about how lucky I am." Kaidan elaborated as he shifted their bodies enough so that he could wrap his other arm around John's shoulders to pull him closer.

John smiled against Kaidan's throat at the answer and trailed his fingers over the other's side. "I'm glad you saw reason." John stated.

Kaidan chuckled and turned his head to kiss John's forehead. "Me too."

Before Kaidan could however John tilted his head up and caught the other man's lips with his own. He could feel Kaidan smiling at the action and gently swiped his tongue over the other's lips asking entrance. Kaidan opened his mouth willingly and John slipped his tongue into the biotic's mouth to deepen the kiss. John let out a soft moan as Kaidan's tongue tangled with his own and he shifted so that he lay mostly on top of the other man. He could feel the major's erection pushing against his own so he rolled his hips causing them both to moan into each other's mouths.

"God." Kaidan gasped as he gripped John's sides and pulled him closer.

"The names' John, but close enough Major." John joked before diving back down to suck Kaidan's throat.

Kaidan chuckled before he brought up a hand and grabbed a fistful of John's short hair and pulled his head up for another kiss. "You wish." He murmured between kisses.

For a few seconds they shared hungry kisses before by unspoken communication they slowed into languid and deep motions. Pulling back John rested his forehead against Kaidan's and smiled down at the other man. "Hey." He murmured softly.

"Hey." Kaidan responded with a soft smile.

John shifted slightly and there was a clinking sound as metal hit metal. They both looked down and John saw that their dog tags had connected, along with the Prothean amulet he had taken to wearing after Liara had given it back to him almost a year ago.

"I never did thank you for looking after it for me." John said softly as he looked back up to Kaidan.

The man in question smiled in response before lifting a hand and gently running a thumb over the large disc. John could feel the shudder run through the other biotic as Kaidan touched the blue stone and grinned softly.

"Every time I touched it I thought of you." Kaidan responded.

"_Really?_" John drawled. "Every time I touched _it_ I thought of you too."

Kaidan's face flushed red and he cleared his throat embarrassed. "When you say it like that, it sounds dirty." He stated.

"It was meant to." John laughed as he leant down to give Kaidan a quick kiss. He pulled back and sat up so that he was straddling the other man's waist; he teasingly pushed back so that his buttocks pushed against Kaidan's erection and he smirked as the Major arched into it and bit his lip to refrain from making a noise. John reached up and quickly undid the latch and pulled the amulet off his neck before leaning forward and placing it around Kaidan's. "Looks good." He stated as he sat back to admire his handwork.

Kaidan's eyebrows rose in response as he looked down at the amulet surround his throat. "You're giving it to me?" he asked in surprise.

"Why not? Every time you touch it you think of me." He leered.

Kaidan grinned and shook his head in reply. "Why do I love you again?" he wondered.

"Because I'm sexy." John answered with a grin as he leant down to kiss Kaidan again. "And gorgeous." Another kiss. "Intelligent." Kiss. "Amazing." Kiss.

"I get the point." Kaidan murmured before quickly grabbing John and twisting so that their positions reversed. The amulet dropped between their bodies to land face down on John's naked chest causing the Commander to shudder when the raw Eezo touched his skin. Kaidan grinned at the reaction and slowly edged down John's body making sure to keep the amulet in contact with the Spectre's skin. "My turn to enjoy the effects this has on a biotic." He whispered.

John groaned and arched up into the man above him. God, he knew it was a good idea to keep that thing.

The team was sitting around the table in the mess when the comfortable silence was broken.

"Hmm."

John looked up to see Javik staring intently at Kaidan, or more accurately at the Prothean amulet that was dangling from Kaidan's neck as the biotic leant over James' shoulder to grab the sauce everyone used to disguise the 'flavour' of the pre-packaged food the Normandy stocked. John raised an eyebrow at the look the Prothean shot him from across the table. "What?" he asked.

"I did not believe you knew the meaning of the Amulet of Mara." Javik declared as he looked once more at the necklace Kaidan was wearing.

The statement gave John pause. "It uh…has a meaning?" he asked in confusion as he exchanged a look with an equally confused Kaidan.

Javik scowled at the reply. Or at least John thought he scowled, it was hard to tell sometimes. "Yes. A Prothean would give the amulet to another Prothean when they desired to mate for life." He explained.

"You mean marry?" Liara queried in the hope to learn more about the Prothean culture.

"Yes." Javik answered.

James choked on his huevos rancheros. "Wait, are you saying Loco and the Major are married?"

John almost choked himself and shot a slightly panicked look in Kaidan's direction only to see that the marine wore a slightly wistful expression rather than the disbelieving one John thought he would be wearing. He felt something flutter in his chest at the expression, did that mean what he thought it meant?

"Only in Prothean culture." Tali said while she thumped the large marine on the back before he choked to death.

EDI's voice over the loudspeaker alerting John to an incoming message cut short the rest of the conversation and it was back to business after that. It was only a few hours later that John really thought about what Javik had said over breakfast. In Prothean culture, John had asked Kaidan to marry him last night when he gave the other marine the amulet. He figured Kaidan's acceptance and continued wearing of it meant that they had officially married. He looked down at the datapad in his hand and grinned, obviously he'd made the right choice when he kept the amulet.

_AN: well first time ever writing Kaidan so that was interesting :P_


End file.
